Media Statement by YB Kelvin Yii:
The government must ramp up efforts to increase awareness and educate members of the public on the importance and safety of the Covid-19 booster or third dose especially in view of concerns raised by public especially when it comes to mix & match or heterologous vaccination.
This morning, I raised up to the Deputy Minister in Parliament on the importance on “mainstreaming” the Covid-19 vaccination to our general National Immunisation Programme (NIP) and this includes a smooth and comprehensive rollout of the booster and 3rd dose.
The government should also increase materials to educate and share the benefits of vaccination to the public to remove the high level of hesitancy especially when it comes to heterologous vaccination.
I raise up concerns on the ground on low uptake of this 3rd dose especially due to concerns raised on mix & match or heterologous vaccination. While there are clear data and research of the benefits of heterologous vaccination, but much of such information are not circulated on the ground enough. Much more must be done by the government to educate them on its safety and benefits.
Although, I raised the concern, if they are still insistent not to mix the vaccines they have taken, what are the government plans for these group of people? The government must find alternatives to ensure that they will get the necessary and optimum protection as well.
That is why a clear timeline must be set by the government on their plans to allow Sinovac as the 3rd dose and even vaccine for our adolescent(12-17yo).
While there are strong benefits for heterologous vaccination, but we need to respect their concerns raised by those hesitant and provide alternative for them especially to make sure they have optimum protection against the virus especially in view of possible new variants.
Having that extra protection is always better regardless of the efficacy and we must make sure that as many people as possible get the necessary protection.
On top of that, I raised the concerns of issues of MySejahtera yesterday when there was an error which allowed random users’ to be given HSOs/PUS status.
This should not have happened. The whole country is dependent on Mysejahtera to go about our daily activities, to manage our own health status, etc.
A disruption like this is more than just an inconvenience, it can be costly!
Imagine if someone suddenly can’t go up their plane or cannot attend an important meeting just because their MySejahtera turned red suddenly.
So, this should not happen, and I questioned the government’s plans to address the issue of cybersecurity and data breach so that issues such as this will not happen again to give public confidence on safety of their data.
Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen
MP Bandar Kuching
